Newspapers are among the last places in America that have close to zero tolerance for [expletive deleted].

I could give you a hint about what word is between the brackets, but Id best not for fear of arousing the ire of the editing Comstocks. About twice a year, I quote a profanity from a public figure, using just the first letter of the word and then some bowdlerizing asterisks for the rest. No dice, my editor tells me. Youre writing for a family newspaper.

There was a time when such standards were the norm at major media institutions in America. Sometimes things went too far, as when Lucy and Ricky had to sleep in separate beds, lest the public get the right idea about where babies come from.

But, as Lee Siegel wrote recently in the Wall Street Journal, vulgarity has become so common in the culture that theres nothing rebellious about it anymore.

Indeed, if theres any larger message to her routine, it is simply to announce that the exception has now become the rule: vulgarity is expected, decency a surprise. (The two most rebellious comedians in my youth were Bill Cosby and Jerry Seinfeld  because they kept it clean or, in Seinfelds case, at least kept it suggestive.)

But my complaint isnt really with singers, shock-jocks, comedians or whatever category Cyrus falls under. Theyre not merely immune to finger-wagging on this score, they actually think such criticism is proof theyre rebels. The wiser course is to simply yawn and move on.

No, my real complaint is with how vulgarity has gone viral. We constantly hear that there is no common culture anymore.

I threw a 401k advisor out of our office and canceled our company’s contract with him because he dropped the eff bomb on our premises. He later was fired by the investment advisors that employed him. Probably not because of my yanking our very small account, but if he could talk like that at my company, he probably did it elsewhere too.

After a year, I finally complained to a day manager at our gym that most of the employees commonly use foul language for anything. This is a very open gym where anything can be heard on 1 end of the gym. I also took the opportunity to mention I think he himself is a high class guy. Very nice, friendly, and never heard him utter nasty hostile words.

‘22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to “eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms.”

There is a modicum of escape. I canceled my television service nearly two years ago. I knew about some of the idiocy (Miley Cyrus), the sleaze (Joe Boxer ads and most television shows), and countless moronic statements by the likes of Kanye West and scores of malevolent democrat politicians and pundits.

I knew because I either read about it online or heard a clip on internet radio. There is a buffer in not having the visual. I swear my blood pressure has improved markedly. And I am better versed in the news of the day that matters than most. I'd wager that every FReeper is.

10
posted on 12/28/2013 6:02:32 PM PST
by LostInBayport
(When there are more people riding in the cart than there are pulling it, the cart stops moving...)

Okay, L'il Abner had issues, and some of the old-strips are more or less what they were back then (e.g. Beetle Bailey), but there are enough strips that are really aren't suitable for kids, even if they are great strips (e.g. Zits, Dilbert).

Scan the headlines, read the artcles in the news and style sections. Before the Bobbitt case, the "p" word was never printed, now it is, even when it is unnecessary to get the point across.

Regarding Goldberg's comment about the Ricardos sleeping in separate beds. Yes, they were married to each other, but we don't need to see them in the same bed any more than we need to see their toilet. For most other TV couples, it is for the dignity of the players that they should not be in bed together. The real life Mrs. Dick Van Dyke probably wouldn't want to see her husband in bed with Mary Tyler Moore on television. In his later years, Patrick McGoohan famously refused to even kiss a woman for a part, because of this. It didn't kill his career.

I’ve known more than one married couple (even today) who sleep separately. Some people have bad backs, sleep warmer or cooler than their mate, snore, etc. It was more common in the 50s than it is today, but people didn’t have King sized beds in the 50s, either.

Our public square is debased.
I am not a “prude” and have no problem at all with swear words in war movies or other appropriate places, and no problem at all even with pornography (a matter I leave to individual taste) so long as it is not paraded in the public square and all over the internet like it was free candy at Holloween. There is a time and place for every purpose under heaven, but the mass culture is not the place for such a steady parade of debasing or demeaning material.
Having had my say about all that, two cents worth maybe,...
I want to add that the debasement of our constitutional liberties and the almost complete abrogation or usurpation of our representative system of governance (”you have to pass the bills to find out what’s in them” -— no budget in five years so we can’t even begin to find out where they are spending or stashing all our money -— a steady stream of lies from The Occupant, etc....... just how do American citizens participate in the formulation of public policy and in the decision-making process now?)
I find these recent changes in our civic lives far worse, even, than the offensive language on the boob toob.

So now you have, for absolutely free, not just two...but THREE cents’ worth...of my stellar wisdom.
Don’t squander it all in one place, and
Happy New Year!

“I have co-workers who use the f and s words in just about every sentence to point of banality.”

I curse very little. My acquaintances know this even if it is at a subconscious level. This has it's advantage. When I do get profane it really gets their attention and they know I mean business. Those that curse constantly are crying wolf and lose this tactic. “When I want it to stick I give it to them loud and dirty” George Patton.

In a recent critically acclaimed 700+ page novel by a woman author, the main character, throughout the 16 or so years of the action, communicates with others mainly by saying to them “F*** you!”, while in the meantime becoming an art connoisseur.

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